News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
A building in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Amazon Pushes Return to Office — “Amazon.com Inc. is warning employees who haven’t been complying with the company’s mandate to work at least three days per week in an assigned office, according to emails seen by Washington Business Journal sister paper Puget Sound Business Journal. Workers who haven’t been following the policy were sent an email Wednesday telling them they weren’t ‘meeting our expectation of joining your colleagues in the office at least three days a week, even though your assigned building is ready.'” [Washington Business Journal, New York Post]

School Board OKs More Office Space — “In a world where tenants are departing and downsizing commercial office space in droves, why does the staff leadership of the Arlington school system want to rent more of it? That was a question several School Board members had as a proposal moved forward for the school system to spend $186,000 next year – and more every succeeding year – to rent additional office space in its leased headquarters facility. The proposal, which also involved spending to set up and furnish the additional space, passed on a 3-1 vote.” [Gazette Leader]

Police Motorcycle Crash — From Dave Statter: “A #motorcycle officer escorting buses in I-395S express lanes near the Pentagon lost control of their bike & appeared to hit the jersey wall. Injuries not believed serious. All express lanes were shut for 20 minutes but right lane now gets by.” [Twitter]

Encore Learning Schedule — “Registration for the fall semester of Encore Learning will open on Sept. 11 at 10 a.m., with classes beginning in early October. Now in its 21st year in Arlington, the initiative provides college-level, non-credit educational opportunities for those age 50 and above, with both in-person and online options. Members also can access special events, such as presentations and tours, and take advantage of breakfast, cinema travel and other active clubs.” [Gazette Leader]

Electronic Sign at Penrose Square — The driver drama at Penrose Square has prompted the Arlington County Police Department to deploy an electronic signboard that reads “stop sign violators ticketed.” [Threads]

Optimists Optimistic About Tree Supply — “It may be the doggiest of summer’s dog days, but the Optimist Club of Arlington’s hunt for additional Christmas trees has paid off. The organization, which has been selling trees for more than three-quarters of a century to raise funds for youth programs, has found an additional 550 Fraser firs from a supplier in Jefferson County, N.C.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Friday — Expect mostly sunny weather with a high near 87 degrees and a west wind of about 8 mph. In the evening, expect partly cloudy skies with a low around 69 degrees and a southeast wind at roughly 6 mph. [Weather.gov]

Around Town

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Aug 10, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Thursday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Aug 10, 2023.

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Friday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

☀️ Friday’s forecast

The weather forecast predicts mostly sunny conditions with a high around 87 degrees and a west wind at approximately 8 mph. Friday night will be partly cloudy with a low of around 69 degrees, accompanied by a southeast wind at about 6 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
– Coco Chanel

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

Sponsored

Listing of the Day: 1404 N Herndon Street

By ARLnow.com

Address: 1404 N Herndon Street
Neighborhood: Lyon Village
Type: 4 BR, 4 (+1 half) BA single-family detached – 3991 sq. ft.
Listed: $2,575,000

Noteworthy: Stunning Lyon Village Modern Masterpiece.

Stunning modern masterpiece designed and renovated in 2016 by acclaimed Moser Architects, seamlessly blending cutting-edge design with refined comfort. Nestled in sought-after Lyon Village, this home offers a light-filled, open layout that exudes sophistication and warmth. Every detail reflects the vision of the current owner, a talented interior designer who curated the interiors with an elevated sense of style. Upon entry, soaring ceilings, white oak flooring, and Italian lighting by Artemide set the tone for contemporary elegance. The striking dining room features Schumacher wallpaper, custom cabinetry, and Scandinavian lighting by Louis Poulsen, while a stylish home office with built-ins complements the design. Along the hall, a custom mural by NYC’s Calico Wallpaper leads to the mudroom and powder room, accented by Kelly Wearstler Visual Comfort lighting and Scalamandre wallcoverings. The open-concept living area, wrapped in walls of windows, centers around state-of-the-art kitchen by Jack Rosen Custom Kitchens with Canadian Elmwood cabinetry, Dekton countertops, walk-in pantry, butler’s pantry with beverage center, and custom banquette upholstered in Christopher Farr Cloth. Upstairs, the primary suite includes two custom-designed walk-in closets and a luxurious spa-inspired bath with an oversized shower and bench seating. Three additional bedrooms, two full baths—one showcasing a Scandinavian light fixture by &Tradition—and a convenient laundry room complete the upper level. The lower level includes a recreation room with 9-foot ceilings, guest suite, full bath, second laundry, and garage access. Outside, professional landscaping and a private flagstone patio provide a serene retreat just two blocks from Clarendon Metro, shops, and dining.

https://listings.blueskyemedia.com/videos/0199cef4-7c51-7244-a953-e84ce3580c1c

Listed by:
Sheri Grant – TTR Sotheby’s International Realty
[email protected]
(703) 405-1016

News

Rocks commemorating gun violence victims vanish from Courthouse garden

By James Jarvis
1/4

More than 100 painted rocks commemorating victims of gun violence seem to have gone missing from a garden in Courthouse.

The Arlington chapter of Moms Demand Action suspects someone may have stolen most of the 150 rocks in “Hope Garden,” a memorial garden located near Courthouse Plaza.

“Sometime in the last week, most of the rocks were stolen. Now about 25 remain,” says Susan Koch, the group leader, adding that she has “no idea who did it or why” and that members are “heartbroken.”

The garden near the intersection of N. Courthouse Road and 15th Street N. was dedicated in 2019. Since then, Koch says many group members have painted rocks and placed them in the garden to honor friends and relatives affected by gun violence, either through tragic loss or enduring trauma.

Apart from the stolen rocks, the rest of the garden remained untouched, she said.

Koch said the group plans to ask for the community’s support to restore the garden but she remains wary of future incidents occurring.

“We’re going to paint more rocks for sure to try and make up for the ones that were stolen,” Koch said. “But…how do we protect them from not being stolen again?”

Founded in 2012 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Moms Demand Action has emerged as a platform for some 10 million members to advocate for statewide and national gun safety measures.

Over the last decade, the local chapter has worked with elected officials, including Del. Patrick Hope (D) and State Sen. Barbara Favola (D), on gun safety laws, including a series of bills, such as universal background checks and “Red Flag” laws, passed by the General Assembly in 2020.

The group also discusses gun safety with schools and community organizations and works with local nonprofits, such as Doorways, which provides resources to victims of domestic violence.

“We have a program called, ‘Be Safe,’ which basically tells people how important it is to store their guns safely,” Koch said.

She emphasized that the group is not “anti-gun.” Instead, its members advocate for gun safety education as a crucial aspect of weapon ownership.

“We don’t want to take people’s guns away. We just want them to be safe,” Koch said.

Koch said the group might go to the police and file a report. Whatever the outcome, she noted the incident would not “break” them.

“We will persevere,” she said.

News

Parks department reports credit card payment issues during fall class registration

By Jo DeVoe
A frustrated technology user (illustration by ARLnow)

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Registration for fall classes through the parks department hit a snag this afternoon.

Spots opened up Tuesday for this fall’s slate of recreation and nature and history classes, dubbed ENJOY classes. Today, however, users may have experienced a slow system with error messages not authorizing credit card payments or delays receiving receipts.

Early this afternoon, the Arlington County Dept. of Parks and Recreation announced it was having technical difficulties with accepting payments by credit card.

In posts on social media, DPR encouraged people to instead pay by eCheck as it does not go through the same payment system as credit cards.

About 30 minutes later, the parks department said the issue had been resolved.

DPR spokeswoman Jerry Solomon tells ARLnow the payment snafu only briefly affected registration today. Between Tuesday and yesterday, she said, the system successfully logged more than 8,000 total registrations, including more than 7,000 completed online.

“The payment issue was only experienced during today’s registration,” she said. “We posted on our webpages and social media to make sure the community was aware, however as soon as the issue was rectified, people were able to resume their registration process as normal.”

Just after 12:50 p.m. the parks department received the all-clear from the payment processor that the system is fully functioning. By 1:20 p.m., more than 3,600 people were able to successfully register for classes, Solomon noted.

“We will have a better sense of what occurred today once our payment processor has diagnosed the issue,” Solomon said.

There was an issue with the payment processor during the Summer ENJOY registration process but she said it is unclear if this issue is the same.

“During the summer, staff were able to quickly respond by sharing an announcement online, helping callers, and making arrangements for payment by eCheck or at a later date,” she said.

This bug may be new but DPR has a history of issues with its registration platform.

In recent years parents would wake up bright and early, mouses at the ready, they would encounter problems logging in and navigating error messages — due to the crush of people trying to register at the same time.

Longstanding issues bubbled over last year when, despite efforts to beef up the system, it still crashed. County leaders put pressure on DPR to study what went wrong and develop a corrective plan. The break down also prompted the county to focus on ensuring departments properly vet technology services vendors.

After some tweaks and the addition of a wait room, this year’s summer camp registration process seemed to go off without a hitch — only for this new credit card payment issue to arise.

Announcement

18th Annual Artful Weekend Returns to Fort C.F. Smith!

(This Community Post was written by the Arlington Artists Alliance and underwritten Embracing Arlington Arts.)

Has your recent experience of viewing art consisted mainly of looking at a painting behind your boss’s head on a Zoom call? Here’s your chance to see and purchase art in person, while supporting local Arlington artists!

Go to 18th Annual Artful Weekend Returns to Fort C.F. Smith! Read more
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